Opinion

The obvious symbol for the month of February is, of course, the heart. This ideograph — represented by an anatomically inaccurate shape, by the way — appears on greeting cards, love letters and ever-popular, emoji-filled texts. Yes, February is all about love, especially romantic love,...

The best-made plans, as they say, are invariably subject to change. I had lots of projects in mind for the weekend ahead. Since I am working on a new book, I like to squeeze in some “me hours” in my free time, stolen minutes...

Local column by Joanne Banuelos

The good and bad aspects of choosing a title line (see above) for a column is once up there, the writer is bound to it throughout the piece. If the writer adheres to the subject of the title throughout all is well, but if...

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In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” WHO published further clarifications in 1986, citing health as “a resource for everyday life, not the objective...

I went to a holiday party the other night. I’ll tell you more about that in another column. The reason I brought it up is because I awoke this morning after a dream that could have been caused by memories of past parties. I...

Last Sunday one of the readers of this column listened, patiently I suspect, to my not uncommon lament of having a deadline in the near future and not a single word written, whereupon he responded that I say that every week and every week...

Here it is October already. This month doesn’t hold much for me. Besides Halloween, what is there to look forward to? You wake up to cold dreary morning drizzle and the day just doesn’t get much better. Of course, we live in the 21st...

The day I started work at the newspaper was Halloween 1991. I remember that day so well, because the whole building was decorated in pumpkins and ghouls and all the staff were dressed up in elaborate outfits. Candy was on every desk — it...